I can see where Ed is coming from. Sorry, ED!

Not to sound corney, but unless you walk a mile in his shoes, you'll never be able to empathize & appreciate where he is coming from.

I uh, had a pretty tough deal to go through as well. It was Whitneys choice to live as she did. Bobby was an enabler for sure. Too much money & fame I guess can do this to some people. She probably had several close calls we don't know about. It's a loss, sure - but she had her moments in the sun. RIP

no reason to be sorry bruce.... it is what it is!

i guess at some point in my mind i drew a line of good and bad and a zero tolerance mentallity... i would imaging it was for mental self preservation as well as physical preservation...

My politics may lean left but I find it hard to drum up crocodile tears for someone who squandered so much talent as they slowly committed suicide. Addiction is an illness and for those who want help it should be provided. Others will reject help and eventually kill themselves. I believe in individual responsibility. Help as many as possible but be cautious helping those who do not wish to be helped. I wrote elsewhere that though we are all born equal we are not all endowed by our creator with equal gifts. At her death Whitney no longer possessed the same gift that had made her famous. She chose to waste it. I may understand that choice. I may wish it to have been otherwise. But I shall not waste emotion on someone who did not care much about herself.

I mourn the loss of her talent even if I cannot mourn for someone who did not care enough about herself to nurture that talent. For some drugs are a way of medicating mental illness. Not everyone has the resources that Whitney possessed. There are many cases far more tragic and unfortunate that deserve our sympathy. Whitney Houston had an immense talent. That talent earned her great fortune and fame. If she did not care enough about herself and her talent should I? At any rate, I do not.

My wife, who is much kinder than I am, pretty much said the same thing as Alan, tonight at dinner. If this had been some two bit junky known for breaking and entering to feed their addiction, everyone would a only say, it's about time. Or if it had been a black male rapper, it wouldn't have gotten half the attention. But because she appealed more to white audiences than black, and made them think they were open minded because they bought CDs of a black girl, everyone is acting like we lost a president.

Bury the crackhead and let's get back to our normal news of ignoring dead soldiers

Lots of effort in pointing out how little one cares about this person.

Especially people who know nothing about her personal lives other than what the media shows. She was someone's daughter, mother, sister, friend. Everybody has their own demons. She was a great singer, that is why the media is covering it. I'm not defending her lifestyle I just think it is straight up effed up to talk about someone like that, especially if you didn't know them. It's a little different than feeling some way about someone who treated you like a piece of shit or abused you their entire life.

I know, all this talk but eventually..........Sooner or later the fever ends, And I wind up feeling down ;)


Oh! I wanna dance with somebody.
I wanna feel the heat with somebody.
Yeah! I wanna dance with somebody,
With somebody who loves me.

Just got my Whitney Fix!

Dammit Kevin Costner! You had one simple job!!

Dude! I got that exact text from my brother in law right after it happened.

I spent a few years on the road with Canadian bands who befriended the same demons as Whitney Houston. Stardom and fame can take a toll on a person. The constant spotlight and pressure on a star can be a very lonely life to say the least. The money is there to self medicate and the disease becomes a lifestyle and a way to drown out the pain. There wasn't one artist that I worked with that didn't have some dark need to fill by being a rockstar.... Acceptance. I myself got caught up in the drugs and booze. I am proud to say that I am 14 years clean and sober now. The journey back was a tough one so I have alot of compassion for those that are still struggling and wanting to get off the rat wheel.

I didn't know her, I never met her, only saw her on tv or a magazine photo. So in all honesty, why should I care about her?

Yep.

I suppose that makes it easier to pass judgement on her and call her a crackwhore. Not to mention the lack of empathy or understanding of addiction.

But really, if you don't care about her, why the commentary? I know Ed says he doesn't care about her, but he has some anger issues with his dad that cause him to hate addicts. Doesn't make it right and it's not rational, but I understand.

Is the issue the outpouring of empathy and support, irrationally exhuberant praise of a black woman by white people? Maybe that's the issue you really care about. I don't recall Amy Winehouse being called a crackwhore (though she was on camera actually using crack), and by all measures she was a much more out of control train wreck that Whitney Houston.

This thread seems less about Whitney Houston the longer it goes. I don't recall such a pejorative used about a very talented singer with addiction problems dying early.

Crackwhore deserved it but I don't care

I didn't call her a crackwhore. That we Ed. I called her a crackhead.

And I guess you can put me in the same category as Ed. While my father wasn't to his extreme, he was a drunk until I was about 17, when he finally got help. I also have seen plenty of other addicts, some relatives, some not, so I have little patiences with them. And I see no reason to make a big deal out of the death of someone that in all honesty, everyone is really surprised she didn't go quicker. It was a loss for the music world, but that doesn't give reason for the news shows to be treating it like we lost a great leader.

As for my comment about race, I believe you took my point the opposite of what I meant. I meant the media likes to make a big deal out of her because she had been "whitened" enough for acceptance by main stream America. Sort of like the joke Patrice ONeal use to do, if a cute little blonde girl goes missing in Aruba, people will search for her for years, but you have a little black girl go missing, the community gives up at the end of the weekend.

A distinction without a difference. We are not acting like we lost a president, that's ridiculous.

I'm sorry somebody close to you had addiction problems. It's too bad you and Ed haven't found help with your anger problems that emanate in having a low tolerance for or not giving a crap about other people with addiction problems. As if that gives you a right or license to lack empathy and speak of addicts disparagingly.

I'm sure all previous addicts which validate your feelings had equally legitimate issues licensing them to abuse drugs or alchohol.

And so the world turns.